States of Success: Graceland First Iowa College to Win National Hoop Title
Kentucky (31), buttressed by Louisville (NCAA DI) and Georgetown (NAIA) in 2013, moved ahead of California five years ago as the state with the most national titles from each level of four-year college men's basketball - NCAA Division I, NIT, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA. But California moved into a tie with Kentucky four seasons ago when Vanguard (Calif.) captured the NAIA crown and moved back ahead of Kentucky three campaigns ago when Stanford won the NIT.
Illinois and Ohio are the only states to boast at least one champion from all five levels. Among the 13 states amassing a total of more than 10 national crowns, Missouri is the only one in that group without a Division I championship. Drury (Mo.) and Central Missouri won back-to-back DII titles earlier this decade but the state's two headline schools - Mizzou and Saint Louis - never have reached the NCAA Final Four.
Pennsylvania, collecting two crowns this season (NCAA DI and NIT), is among six states with at least 16 national championships. The biggest surprise among states fond of hoops but never capturing a four-year school national title was Iowa until Graceland won this year's NAIA crown. Following is how states stack up by national four-year school titles including the NIT and various levels of small-college basketball:
State DI NIT DII DIII NAIA Total California 15 8 5 0 4 32 Kentucky 11 3 10 0 7 31 North Carolina 13 2 3 0 1 19 Ohio 3 6 3 5 2 19 Oklahoma 2 2 1 0 11 16 Pennsylvania 4 7 2 3 0 16 Illinois 1 6 1 6 1 15 Missouri 0 1 4 2 8 15 New York 2 10 0 3 0 15 Wisconsin 2 1 0 12 0 15 Indiana 5 2 6 0 1 14 Texas 1 3 0 0 8 12 Kansas 3 1 1 0 6 11 Minnesota 0 3 2 2 3 10 Virginia 0 4 5 1 0 10 Michigan 3 3 1 2 0 9 Tennessee 0 2 1 1 4 8 Georgia 0 0 1 0 6 7 Massachusetts 1 1 1 4 0 7 Alabama 0 0 3 0 3 6 Connecticut 4 1 1 0 0 6 Maryland 1 1 2 0 1 5 Arizona 1 0 0 0 3 4 District of Columbia 1 1 1 1 0 4 Florida 2 0 2 0 0 4 South Carolina 0 2 0 0 2 4 Utah 1 3 0 0 0 4 West Virginia 0 2 0 0 2 4 Colorado 0 1 2 0 0 3 Louisiana 0 0 0 0 3 3 New Jersey 0 2 0 1 0 3 South Dakota 0 0 3 0 0 3 Arkansas 1 0 0 0 1 2 Nebraska 0 1 0 1 0 2 Rhode Island 0 2 0 0 0 2 Washington 0 0 2 0 0 2 Hawaii 0 0 0 0 1 1 Iowa 0 0 0 0 1 1 Mississippi 0 1 0 0 0 1 Montana 0 0 0 0 1 1 Nevada 1 0 0 0 0 1 New Mexico 0 0 0 0 1 1 Oregon 1 0 0 0 0 1 Wyoming 1 0 0 0 0 1
NOTE: Seven states - Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Vermont - never have had a four-year school win a men's national championship.